The other day, I told you about the town I visited last week, Franklin, Illinois. In that post, I promised much more about Franklin, and so today I’ll begin telling you some interesting things about the church I visited with, Franklin Christian Church (FCC).
One of the reasons for my visit there was to meet with the leadership to discuss church leadership, church growth and how to accomplish the mission of a local church in their community. What I observed at FCC was something really interesting, and I thought I’d share not only what I found there, but a vision for small rural churches all over that might just give you some ideas for your community, if your church is in a similar situation.
If you just look at FCC, the most obvious thing that you would notice, is that it has no future… well that’s what you might say if you are an “expert” on church growth. That is not what I saw, however. What I saw was the most exciting opportunity for ministry that I have ever seen! Let’s take a look at some facts about FCC…
Membership: approximately 60
Average Attendance: 45
Community size: 600 in town, approximately 2,500 in the surrounding area.
Worship Style: Traditional, music blended
Number of churches in town: 4
Average age: about 45 is my estimate
These are stats that tell you there is trouble brewing, and very few churches with numbers like this ever really turn things around. When you mention that 10 or 12 years ago, they had around 120 members there is great cause for concern… Yet as I mentioned before, what I found was nothing short of exciting, FCC is poised for growth, and that is one of the reasons I’m doing these posts.
What FCC has in its Favor
FCC has a great facility. It has an older auditorium, built in the 1880’s that is simply charming, and it has a new addition added on that is nothing less than amazing. It has a large multi-purpose room that is suitable for contemporary worship (even with cafe seating, if that’s your thing) for hundreds, when that time comes along. They also have a leadership that is willing to listen, and that desires growth both spiritually and numerically. Their 26-year-old Pastor is enthusiastic about building community, and the congregation, though currently small, is already more community-minded than most, both within itself and in town generally. They give their Pastor high marks for his community involvement as the town goes, and within the congregation, and as I see it, this is where FCC has a major advantage. Finally, out of the four churches in Franklin, none is dominant. Often you might expect that in a community of this size, three out of the four may be quite small, with the fourth having hundreds of members, but that is not the case here.The reason for that seems to be the relatively large percentage of people who drive 15 to 20 miles to a larger community for contemporary worship in a very large church.
The biggest question for FCC is whether or not there are enough people who are willing to change enough for FCC to grow. You might read this and ask why FCC, or any other church should ever need to change anything. Isn’t making changes in a church just another way of compromising with the culture… or “coddling” the culture as some might call it? Let’s take a look at that question tomorrow. It is a basic question that is a fundamental part of our faith, so I’ll see you then!
Life Project Blog 
Great looking church. One of the best kept secrets in the area?
Could be…
Sounds like a lovely church and it certainly has a very pretty building. I will be interested in reading your next post about the kinds of changes you are referring to. I’m not a big fan of changing what a church has to offer just to match the current culture of the day.
The Bible says in 1 John 2:15-17 ESV “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Of course there are many other verses that give the same thought.
I belong to a wonderful fundamental Baptist church in Wisconsin, very traditional with its music, bible-preaching. There are some who say keeping the old traditions and keeping Baptist in the church name is a deterrent to growth. I don’t agree with it. My church just celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and for the last 40 of those years we have had the same pastor. We are truly blessed with this Pastor and his wife–they are true servants of the Lord, with very strong Christian values and no, they are not “stuffy” as some might think–not in the least! It is not a huge church by any means, (not sure of the exact membership numbers but I believe the average Sunday service has about 160 or more in attendance. There are many who have been with the church for many years, and kids who grew up in the church who are now raising their families in the church. It’s a nice mix of people with lots of kids in our church! The church has also sent out many young men to be pastors and missionaries with more young men currently in the church who have made decisions to give their lives to the Lord through pastoring, etc. I could say a lot more but in the interest of brevity I will just say why would we want to change what we offer? God’s word is perfect and true. What better could we ever offer? As I said earlier, we are blessed!
Sounds like a wonderful church… and I always like things in Wisconsin! I guess it comes down to whether or not a church is reaching the community with what it is doing, and the way it’s doing them. If they are reaching the community and bringing the lost to Christ… and have an environment where the congregation is growing in their walk with Christ, then don’t change a thing. If not, well you need to start asking why that is. In many small rural towns, churches never want to change anything, and they die out; not good.
One thing we need to keep in mind about these matters is that making changes in the way we do things, when it is necessary, has nothing to do with pleasing the world. But it has everything to do with REACHING the lost who are in the world, and if a different batch of songs, or dressing differently will bring people to Christ, then we need to consider a change. One thing, however that NEVER changes is the pure, clear message of the Word of God!
I agree with much of what you say–we do need to reach the lost–no doubt there. I worry though when people go to far with the changes, like avoiding preaching on some subjects because they might not be “politically correct” or might “offend” someone. The whole of God’s word is there to be shared and if we are offended by any of it, we obviously are not following His instructions. Okay I will get off my soapbox. lol
Elaine, you and I are on the same soapbox! The truth and message of Scripture should never be compromised. Of course truth needs to go with grace…
You are a mentor to churches in the distress? That’s pretty cool. W
Yes I am, and with pastors who can use a hand too.
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Reblogged this on Bixby's First Baptist Church and commented:
This is an interesting case study in church growth.